Garment finisher



Patented Nov. 5, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT FINISHER George W. Du Nah, Pasadena, Calif. Applica tion October 17, 1945, Serial No. 622,717

3 Claims. (cl. 323-10) this invention pertains to an improved garment finisher by means of which various garments such as, for example, dresses, coats, jackets and the like, may be subjected to the action of steam and hot air for the purpose of removing wrinkles, adjusting the garment to required size or length, and otherwise restoring the garment to its original finish and condition.

All garments become wrinkled, stretched and otherwise deformed during a dry cleaning operation. Before the garment is returned to the original owner it is necessary to readjust the fabric and the various portions of the garment so that the garment is of uniform length, is free from wringles, that the pleats are properly positioned and folded, and that the nap (if any) be in a normal upstanding condition instead of flattened or overlapped. This finishing operation ordinarily fiequires a great deal of time and care. The present invention is directed to a simple, efiicient device by means of which the garment may be placed upon a porous, inflatable dress or jacket form preferably provided with arms, the garment being thereby suspended or held by the form in a normal condition, the inflatable form properly stretching and filling out the garment to the contours of the wearer, whereupon the operator may pass baflied steam through the form and garment so as to soften the fabric of the garment, adjust the garment to desired length-and form by manual light manipulation by a brush or small whiskbroom, and then dry the garment while it is in its adjusted finished position upon the permeable form by passing hot air through the form and garment. In this manner, complete renovation of the garment is readily attained and inasmuch as the form is rotatable in the device of the present invention, the operator may readily and quickly finish the garment.

Moreover, the device of the present invention permits the garment to be handled upon a hanger so that at the completion of the finishing operation the garment, together with its hanger, may be hung upon storage racks for subsequent handling, disposal, distribution, etc.

Generally stated, the apparatus comprises a base housing provided with an upstanding, cylindrical, pivot post, said pivot post rotatably receiving a pipe support provided with spaced steam outlets. The pipe support carries a complete dress or jacket form, the bottom of such form terminating in a substantially cylindrical portion attached to a sealing ring rotatably fitting over the top of the base housing. The entire pipe support, dress form and sealing ring are thus be steamed or dried at the operator's will. Moreover, the dress form being of limp, porous material is made adjustable for different sizes of garments or for garments of different lengths by the use of a movable constricting ring carried by the tubular lower portion of the form. Such ring is vertically adjustable upon the form, permitting desired areas of the form to be properly inflated so as to suitably stretch the garment in radial directions.

Anv object of the invention, therefore, is to disclose and provide a simple and efficient garment finisher.

A further object is to disclose and provide a garment finisher provided with a vertically supported, rotatable dress form which may be selectively supplied with steam or hot air.

A still further object is to provide a garment finisher of the character stated including pedaloperated means for regulating the amount of air supplied to the dress form and for controllably supplying steam thereinto.

These and other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following description of an exemplary form. In order to facilitate understanding, reference will be had to the appended drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the device showing the dress form in position thereon."

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device, the upper portion of the dress form being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a plan view with the dress form removed.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken along the plane IV-IV of Fig. 3.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the device may comprise a bed plate i on which there is mounted a cylindrical base housing 2. The base I also carries ablower 3 driven by a suitable motor l, a screened air intake-being indicated at 5. A duct 6 connects the outlet of the blower 3 with the base housing 2. Positioned within the duct are heating coils'i which may be supplied with steam from a main steam line 8 and branch be used for maintaining the duct in vertical position. Pedal-operated means are provided for moving the shutter from an open position, wherein the passage of air through the duct is virtually unimpeded, to a partially closed position, in which the cross-sectional area of the duct is reduced to between about 25% and 50%. Such pedal-operated means may comprise a shaft l2 journaled in suitable hangers l3 carried by the bed frame I, the front end of the shaft l2 being provided with a pedal lever II. The rear end of the shaft I2 is provided with a crank arm Ii, one end of the crank arm being carried by the shaft l2 whereas the other end is slidably received in a vertical slot it formed in the shutter I0. Since the pedal lever I4 is suitably bent so as to contact the floor when depressed to either position, a, positive two-position movement is imparted to the shutter III by stepping upon the pedal lever.

Means are provided within the base housing 2 for rotatably supporting a dress form. Such means may include a stationary, upstanding,

hollow pivot post 20, the upper end of such pivot post being attached to the walls of the base housing 2 by means of a spider 2| attached to a collar 22 fixed to the upper end of the pivot post 20. An upstanding pipe support 23 having an open lower end is rotatably held by the pivot post 20. The upstanding supporting pipe 23 is also provided with a spider 24 carrying a circular sealing ring 25 rotatable with a slip fit upon the upper portion of the base housing 2. The pipe support 23 may also be provided with a bearing collar 25 adapted to rotatably support the pipe upon the collar 22 carried by the spider 2|.

The pipe support 23 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced ports 21 and such ports may be covered by a winding or covering of wire mesh 28 for the purpose of more evenly distributing steam supplied to the bottom of the pipe support.

Steam is supplied to the pipe support by means of a conduit 30 connected to a port in the lower portion of the pipe support 20. The conduit 30 leads to the main steam supply line 8 and contains a spring-actuated whistle-type valve 3|. The valve 3! is preferably supplied with pedalaotuated means comprising a foot lever 32 pivotally connected to the base I at 33, a link 34, and a pivoted arm 35, the arm being adapted to depress the stem 36 of the valve 3i when the pedal 32 is depressed. Suitable latching means 31 may be provided for holding the pedal 32 in depressed position when desired.

The upper end of the pipe support 23 is closed and carries a transversely extending hanger 40 upon which the dress or Jacket form 4| is held. This form is made of a porous, limp, preferably heat-resistant textile material and terminates in a lower, substantially cylindrical or tubular portion 42, the marginal bottom edge of such portion being bound to or connected with the outer surface of the sealing ring 25 as by means of suitable rubberbands, tape, string, or the like.

It is to be noted that the dress form may include hollow tubular arms 43 closed at their lower or outer ends and suitably weighted. Moreover, the edge portion of the dress form, and particularly that portion corresponding to the waist and hips, may carry a movable, encircling, constricting ring, belt, rope or the like 44, whereby the general contours of the body portion may be varied by slidably adjusting and moving the ring 44 up and down the dress form while it is inflated by the action of dress form by fan 3. conduit 6. and base housing 2. In this manner the form may be used to com pletely fill out either short jackets or longer coats and to place the greatest distention of the dress form within a desired portion of the form so as not to unduly distend a garment and still 1111 it out completely.

In order to make, certain that the air being supplied to the .form is suitably heated, the base housing 2 may include a suitable steam coil 46 surrounding the upstanding pivot post 20, such coil 46 being supplied with steam from the main 8. The lower portion of the coil 46 may be connected to line 41 which constitutes a return and drain line.to the source of steam. The heater I (in the event it is of the finned, steam tube type) is also provided with a return or returns as by line 48.

Those skilled in the art will readily see the simplicity of the construction here shown and the great savings which result from the use of the device. The operator may readily slip a garment, such as a coat, onto the dress form, placing the inflatable sleeves 43 within the sleeves of the garment and buttoning the jacket around the form. Throughout this period of time a limited amount of hot air may be blown through the form by placing the shutter in its partly closed position by operation of the foot lever l4. Steam may then be admitted into the upstanding pipe support 23 by depressing lever 32. The amount of air bein passed into the form may also be increased by opening the shutter I 0.

After the coat has been suitably brushed and adjusted, the introduction of steam into the upstanding pipe 23 is discontinued and a large volume of hot air passed through the form and garment so as to completely dry the garment. The garment may then be readily removed from the dress form. The top of the dress form may include means for holding a portable hanger so that the hanger may be inserted into the garment while it is still on the form and removed without wrinkling or folding the garment.

The operation of the motor 4 may be controlled by foot switch 49 carried by the base I so that the operator need not move from his position in front of the device in order to start, stop, or otherwise control the machine. During brushing, the entire dress form may be rotated manually, the slidin collar or ring 25 preventing undue loss of air from the lower part of the form.

All changes and modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A garment finisher comprising: a base housing provided with a circular upper portion open at the top and a centrally positioned, stationary, upstanding, hollow, pivot post; a, blower; an air duct connecting the blower with the base housing; a heater interposed in the duct between the blower and the base housing; a two-position shutter in the duct between the housing; an upstanding pipe support rotatably mounted in the hollow, pivot post, said pipe having a closed upper end and a plurality of longitudinally spaced ports, a transversely extending hanger carried by the upper end of the pipe support and a permeable, limp, dress form carried by the hanger, said dress form including a cylindrical lower portion; a rotatable sealing ring carried by the circular upper portion of the base housing and connected to the pipe support, the

air supplied to the bottom of the heater and base bottom of the dress form being connected to the sealing ring whereby the sealing ring, pipe support, and dress form may be rotated simultaneously about a vertical axis; and pedal-operated means for supplying steam to the pivot post and pipe support.

2. A garment finisher comprising: a base housing provided with a circular upper portion open at the top and a centrally positioned, stationary, upstanding, hollow, pivot post; a. blower; an air duct connecting the blower with the base housing; a heater interposed in the duct between the 'blower and the base housing; a shutter in the duct between the heater and base housing; a

two-position, pedal-operated means for operating the shutter to and from a position in which air flow through the duct is unimpeded and a position where the area of the duct is reduced to between 25% and 50%; an upstanding pipe support rotatably mounted in the hollow, pivot post, said pipe support having a closed upper end, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ports, and a transversely extending hanger carried by the upper end of the pipe support; a permeable dress form carried by the hanger, said dress form including a cylindrical lower portion; a rotatable sealing ring carried by the upstanding pipe support and circular upper portion of the base housing and connected to the pipe support, the bottom of the dress form being connected to the sealing ring whereby the sealing ring, pipe support and dress form may be rotated simultaneously about a vertical axis; and pedal-operated means for supplying steam to the pivot post and pipe support.

3. A garment finisher comprising: a base housing provided with a circular upper portion open at the top and a centrally positioned, stationary, upstanding, hollow, pivot post; a, blower; an air duct connecting the blower with the base housing; a heater interposed in the duct between the blower and the base housing; a shutter in the duct between the heater and base housing; a two-position, pedal-operated means for operating the shutter to and from a position in which air flow through the duct is unimpeded and a position where the area of the duct is reduced to between 25% and said means including a shaft extending horizontally along ;the base housing to the front thereof, a pedal lever carried by the front end of the shaft, a crank arm carried by the other end of the shaft and a slot in the shutter, said slot slidably receiving one end of the crank; an upstanding pipe support having a, closed upper end, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ports, and a transversely extending hanger carried by the upper end of the pipe support; a permeable dress form carried by the hanger, said dress form including a cylindrical lower portion; a rotatable sealing ring carried by the upstanding pipe support and'circular upper portion of the base housing and connected to the pipe support, the bottom of the dress form being connected to the sealing ring whereby the sealing ring, pipe support and dress form may be rotated simultaneously about a vertical axis; and pedal-operated means for supplying steam to the pivot post and pipe support.

GEORGE w. DU NAH. 

